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Caves are dark, underground hollow spaces with relatively constant temperature, high humidity, and limited nutrients. Many caves are associated with karst topography, which is formed by the dissolution of soluble bedrock, such as limestone, dolomite and gypsum, in areas where groundwaters are undersaturated with respect to the minerals in the host rock. Karst landforms spread widely, accounting for approximately 20% of the earth’s dry ice-free surface (Ford and Williams, 2007). As a typical feature of subsurface landscape, karst caves develop globally, with over 50,000 distributed in the United States (Barton and Jurado, 2007). China also has a large contiguous karst terrain, and the Yunnan–Guizhou plateau in the southwest developed most karst caves, among which the longest cave exceeds 138 km (Zhang and Zhu, 2012). Many caves are relatively shallow and form near the water table in karst terranes, although some caves develop by deep-seated hypogenic process at substantial depths and by process other than dissolution such as lava flows. Caves are oligotrophic ecosystems with less than 2 mg of total organic carbon per liter, yet host flourishing microbial groups (Figure 1A), with an average number of 106 microbial cells per gram of cave rock (Barton and Jurado, 2007). The study revealed a high diversity within Bacteria domain and Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria were abundant in oligotrophic cave samples of air, rock, sediment and water. Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, Nitrospirae, Gemmatimonadetes, and Verrucomicrobia also accounted for large proportions of the total microbial community in caves (Wu et al., 2015; Zhu et al., 2019). In some organic cave samples such as biofilms in sulfur cave, bat guanos, spiders’ webs and earthworm castings, Mycobacterium was prevalently detected (Modra et al., 2017; Sarbu et al., 2018; Hubelova et al., 2021; Pavlik et al., 2021). Over 500 genera of fungi, such as Penicillium, Aspergillus and Mortierella have been reported in caves (Vanderwolf et al., 2013), and new fungal species were identified from cave air, rock, sediment and water samples (Zhang et al., 2017, 2021). These microbial communities contain novel diversity, and promote important biogeochemical processes. With no sunlight, microorganisms in cave environment cannot perform photosynthesis, and are intensively involved in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, and metals such as Fe and Mn to offset the lack of exogenous nutrients and energy.
Cave organisms are the ‘monsters’ of the underground world and studying them invariably raises interesting questions about the ways evolution has equipped them to survive in permanent darkness and low-energy environments. Undertaking ecological studies in caves and other subterranean habitats is not only challenging because they are difficult to access, but also because the domain is so different from what we know from the surface, with no plants at the base of food chains and with a nearly constant microclimate year-round. The research presented here answers key questions such as how a constant environment can produce the enormous biodiversity seen below ground, what adaptations and peculiarities allow subterranean organisms to thrive, and how they are affected by the constraints of their environment. This book is divided into six main parts, which address: the habitats of cave animals; their complex diversity; the environmental factors that support that diversity; individual case studies of cave ecosystems; and of the conservation challenges they face; all of which culminate in proposals for future research directions. Given its breadth of coverage, it offers an essential reference guide for graduate students and established researchers alike.
This text is devoted to a particular class of microbe & focuses on its ecology, systematics, physiological & molecular biology. Also included is a discussion of potentially exploitable biotechnological & industrial uses for extremophiles.
Despite the perception that artworks are timeless and unchanging, they are actually subject to biological attack from a variety of sources--from bacteria to fungi to insects. This groundbreaking volume, which publishes the proceedings of a conference held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2002, explores how the development of these organisms can be arrested while preserving both the work of art and the health of the conservator.The richly illustrated text, containing the writings of over 40 scientists and conservators, is divided into sections on stone and mural paintings, paper, textiles, wood and archaeological materials, treatment and prevention, and special topics. The artworks and cultural properties discussed include, among many others, Paleolithic cave paintings, Tiffany drawings, huts built by early Antarctic explorers, and a collection of toothbrushes taken from Auschwitz victims.
Microorganisms are a major part of the Earth's biological diversity. Although a lot of research has been done on microbial diversity, most of it is fragmented. This book creates the need for a unified text to be published, full of information about microbial diversity from highly reputed and impactful sources. Recent Advancements in Microbial Diversity brings a comprehensive understanding of the recent advances in microbial diversity research focused on different bodily systems, such as the gut. Recent Advancements in Microbial Diversity also discusses how the application of advanced sequencing technologies is used to reveal previously unseen microbial diversity and show off its function. - Gives insight into microbial diversity in different bodily systems - Explains novel approaches to studying microbial diversity - Highlights the use of omics to analyze the microbial community and its functional attributes - Discusses the techniques used to examine microbial diversity, including their applications and respective strengths and weaknesses
The interaction of microorganisms with geological activities results in processes influencing development of the Earth’s geo- and biospheres. In assessing these microbial functions, scientists have explored short- and longterm geological changes attributed to microorganisms and developed new approaches to evaluate the physiology of microbes including microbial interaction with the geological environment. As the field of geomicrobiology developed, it has become highly interdisciplinary and this book provides a review of the recent developments in a cross section of topics including origin of life, microbial-mineral interactions and microbial processes functioning in marine as well as terrestrial environments. A major component of this book addresses molecular techniques to evaluate microbial evolution and assess relationships of microbes in complex, natural c- munities. Recent developments in so-called ‘omics’ technologies, including (meta) genomics and (meta)proteomics, and isotope labeling methods allow new insights into the function of microbial community members and their possible geological impact. While this book summarizes current knowledge in various areas, it also reveals unresolved questions that require future investigations. Information in these chapters enhances our fundamental knowledge of geomicrobiology that contributes to the exploitation of microbial functions in mineral and environmental biotechn- ogy applications. It is our hope that this book will stimulate interest in the general field of geomicrobiology and encourage others to explore microbial processes as applied to the Earth.
The earth's subsurface contains abundant and active microbial biomass, living in water, occupying pore space, and colonizing mineral and rock surfaces. Caves are one type of subsurface habitat, being natural, solutionally- or collapse-enlarged openings in rock. Within the past 30 years, there has been an increase in the number of microbiology studies from cave environments to understand cave ecology, cave geology, and even the origins of life. By emphasizing the microbial life of caves, and the ecological processes and geological consequences attributed to microbes, this book provides the first authoritative and comprehensive account of the microbial life of caves for students, professionals, and general readers.
The second edition of this widely cited textbook continues to provide a concise but comprehensive introduction to cave and subterranean biology, describing this fascinating habitat and its biodiversity. It covers a range of biological processes including ecosystem function, evolution and adaptation, community ecology, biogeography, and conservation. The authors draw on a global range of examples and case studies from both caves and non-cave subterranean habitats. One of the barriers to the study of subterranean biology has been the extraordinarily large number of specialized terms used by researchers; the authors explain these terms clearly and minimize the number that they use. This new edition retains the same 10 chapter structure of the original, but the content has been thoroughly revised and updated throughout to reflect the huge increase in publications concerning subterranean biology over the last decade.
The earth's subsurface contains abundant and active microbial biomass, living in water, occupying pore space, and colonizing mineral and rock surfaces. Caves are one type of subsurface habitat, being natural, solutionally- or collapse-enlarged openings in rock. Within the past 30 years, there has been an increase in the number of microbiology studies from cave environments to understand cave ecology, cave geology, and even the origins of life. By emphasizing the microbial life of caves, and the ecological processes and geological consequences attributed to microbes, this book provides the first authoritative and comprehensive account of the microbial life of caves for students, professionals, and general readers.
This book reveals the science and beauty of Mammoth Cave, the world's longest cave, which has played an important role in the natural sciences. It offers a comprehensive and interdisciplinary treatment of the cave, combining insights from leading experts in fields ranging from archeology and cultural history to life science and geosciences. The first animals specialized for cave life in North America, including beetles, spiders, crayfish, and fish, were discovered in Mammoth Cave in the 1840s. It has also been used and explored by humans, including Native Americans, who mined its sulfate minerals and later African-American slaves, who made a map of the cave. More recent stories include 'wars' between commercial cave owners, epic exploration trips by modern cave explorers, and of course tourism. The first section of the book is an extensive description including maps and photos of the cave, its basic structural pattern, and how it relates to the surface landscape. The second section covers the human history of utilization and exploration of the cave, including mining, tourism, and medical experiments. Cave science is the topic of the third section, including geology, hydrology, mineralogy, climatology, paleontology, ecology, biodiversity, and microbiology. The fourth section looks to the future, with an overview of environmental issues facing Mammoth Cave managers. The book is intended for anyone interested in caves in general and Mammoth Cave in particular, experts in one discipline seeking information about other areas, and researchers and students interested in the many avenues of pursuit possible in Mammoth Cave.